4 or Y

want to know what will be the best long arms to with, 4 link or y link

Boxers or briefs? I mean, there's plenty to that question. Do you like the free movement? Are you worried about briefs causing infertility? Do you have a lucky pair of one or the other? What's currently clean?


Oh yeah, what kind of wheeling do you do?

I personally prefer a 4 link, but then I've never run a Y link.

Both work extremely well! I however choose to run a 4link :thumbup:

I bought a 4 link as well.... No experience with the other.

IIRC, it goes like this:

4 link gives you 2 more mounts at the frame side which is nice for strength though not strictly necessary. It also maintains consistent caster through the up travel, which is nice for handling in the go-fast stuff. The down side is that your pinion angle changes with travel, it's heavier and more expensive than y-links and harder to pull off correctly as a DIY designer.
Y-link has fewer mounting points, as mentioned, which simplifies install and design work and makes it cheaper. It isn't quite as strong (though I can't recall any catastrophic failure stories) and will sometimes "unload", or transfer weight to the rear of the car, on steep uphill climbs. This means less traction and more potential for an ass-end-over sort of tip. The good news is that pinion angle stays stable, though caster does not. Most companies build Y-links because they are cheaper to design and manufacture as well as easier to install.

I wouldn't call a Y link "inferior" by any stretch - it comes OEM in a lot of Ford vehicles - but if money was no object, I'd go 4 link

Or you could get the best of both and go 3 link.

DeftwillP said:

Or you could get the best of both and go 3 link.

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x2. Performs amazing in the hills. I daily drive mine and its perfectly fine on the road as well.

well it depends...

do you want your jeep to be fairly awesome?, or WICKED AWESOME!?

yossarian pretty much took care of the reasons why one is superior over the other

I went 3 link. No regrets.

BDS makes makes a pretty sweet 4 link upgrade kit. It's cost just about the same as most Y-link kits out there too which is nice.

I've been running a modified Ford radius arm setup (2 link) for quite a while and love it.

DeftwillP said:

Or you could get the best of both and go 3 link.

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x3 lol i love me 3 link handles super smooth on and off road:thumbup:

who is running Iron Rocks 3 link?

Ashylarry on here runs IRO 3 link. I'm running a y-link and I wheel with others that run a true 3 link(not 3link radius like IRO) and 4 links. All work very well, but as some said a 3 link will work with less resistance than the other set-ups. You'll be happy with either set-up

jimbow912 said:

who is running Iron Rocks 3 link?

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After a year of sitting in the garage, i finally installed my IRO upgrade. I had drop brackets. I wasn't expecting such a dramatic change which is why i hadn't installed it sooner, that and had to talk myself into having only 2 mounting points.
The ride is so smooth compared to the DB's and the flex is like night and day and seems not to bind.
On the downside, a hill that I used to climb fairly easily in 4 low, now requires a decent run at it in order to make it up. The loss of traction in the front on steep angle climbs is a lot more than i thought it would be. A suck down line or a center mount limit stap should improve this dramatically, i hope so, as most of the wheeling here has a lot of steep climbing.
I'm a paranoid bastard and just can't over the fact of having only 2 mounting points, so when not wheeling i think i might run my passenger side upper RE Adj short arm for piece of mind. Does anyone do this, or am i just paranoid??? Murphy's law has a way of tormenting me and don't feel comfortable challenging him on this issue.
The thing that had me worried the most about this kit doesn't bother me at all now, which is the caster adjustment. That gizmo is very stout and it ain't moving when torqued to spec, and is really a fast and super easy adjustment. No worries there.
Overall i like this kit, and would do it again. -B

I think you're just paranoid, I have the IRO Y link and have no doubts about its rigidity; even cut my mounts off this past weekend. I think the material used for the links is a bit excessive but I can assume the added wall thickness might add some protection when the links come into contact with objects below the Jeep. I've not noticed this lack of front traction as you describe. There is a pretty wicked hill behind my property that you couldn't even walk up and my XJ gets right over it likes it nothing; and I'm using Toyo A/T's on loose fill dirt...

I've had my kit installed for a few months now and can't complain. the only part that concerns me is that my transmission, and links are supported by 6 bolts... the paranoid part of me thinks I should add some additional bracketry but I've not heard of anyone loosing their crossmember; wouldn't that be a fu*kin mess...

s14unimog said:

I think you're just paranoid, I have the IRO Y link and have no doubts about its rigidity; even cut my mounts off this past weekend. I think the material used for the links is a bit excessive but I can assume the added wall thickness might add some protection when the links come into contact with objects below the Jeep. I've not noticed this lack of front traction as you describe. There is a pretty wicked hill behind my property that you couldn't even walk up and my XJ gets right over it likes it nothing; and I'm using Toyo A/T's on loose fill dirt...

I've had my kit installed for a few months now and can't complain. the only part that concerns me is that my transmission, and links are supported by 6 bolts... the paranoid part of me thinks I should add some additional bracketry but I've not heard of anyone loosing their crossmember; wouldn't that be a fu*kin mess...

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Yesterday sealed it for me...I was coming into town in a line of traffic, everyone doing about 90kmh/50mph. In the blink of an eye everyone starts locking up the brakes from 3 cars up. Well i'm at 6.5", 35's, and my new IRO kit (without running my paranoid 3rd link) and i stomp the brakes as well. It sounded like a banshee sing-along with all them wheels squealing. My BFG's were the tenor of the choir. I didn't think it was possible, but i got all four tires to lock-up. The heep stayed straight as an arrow with a few luke duke turns of the wheel and had minimal dive. No crashes. Then a doe appears from 3 cars up, stops, looks, bats her eye lashes, walks over to the grass and starts eating. Not a clue that she almost got smoked.
I am now convinced that i don't need to use a 3rd link for safety, my paranoia has been wiped clean. However, I am also convinced that my swaybar did its job well and will use it all the time on the highway. The 3 second rule when following another vehicle payed dividends as i still had 20 feet to the car in front when i came to a stop. The weather was perfect though and in inclement weather i'd increase that distance.
So to sum it up, I am very happy with the IRO upgrade and am no longer worried about only running a 2 link.
I am however in the same boat as you with thoughts on the crossmember and the 3 per side bolts. I'm going to weld on an angle bracket to tie in to the side of the unibody. I don't want to weld the crossmember as it sits as i still want to be able to remove it if need be. :cheers:-B

^ I feel ya. My thoughts are the same. I want to weld some brackets on to the "frame mounts" and allow for some hardware to pass through the unibody; might add some barrels so that I can't collapse my "frame" rail when I go to torque them down. For the moment, I've been watching the hardware. I don't notice any movement or damage to the threading so I'm guessing we're just being paranoid but imagine if that puppy dropped; total carnage... I'm not quite 35's and 6.5" though, lol.